


Betrayal

by Melime



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fix-It, Post-Season/Series 03 Finale, Reconciliation, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 14:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12082641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Melime
Summary: Barbara survives the electrocution.





	Betrayal

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Português brasileiro available: [Traição](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12082644) by [Melime GreenLeaf (Melime)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Melime%20GreenLeaf)



> An anon send me the prompt "Barbara survives electrocution and tries to rebuild what she's lost".

The last thing she could remember was the pain, sharp and absolute. The electric current taking over every muscle in her body hurt almost as much as the person who did that to her.

Tabitha… the betrayal hurt worse than the murder attempt ever could. Barbara could see now that she had failed Tabitha, failed their relationship, but she wasn’t the one to cross the final line, not really. As bad as things were, she would never have plotted to kill Tabitha just because they reached a tough patch.

Barbara wished she had seen the signs sooner, before she lost the one person she still loved. Everything else was tied to Tabitha, her kingdom, however fragile, wouldn’t be at risk if Tabitha had been at her side. She wished she could blame it all on Butch, that’s what killing him had been all about, as much as jealousy and self-preservation, but if she hadn’t lost sight of what really mattered, then none of this would have happened.

For a long time, she didn’t know what was happening. She couldn’t think clearly, had only short periods of lucidity amidst the thick mental fog that threatened to overtake her. She had been in a coma before, but not like this, the damage she had suffered then would seem like a paper cut if compared to this electrocution.

Barbara woke up slowly. A few seconds of barely there conscience that turned into minutes as the days went by. At first, she couldn’t concentrate enough to piece together where she was or what happened after her fight with Tabitha.

By the time she became fully aware of the situation, Barbara knew she couldn’t risk staying at the hospital, even though she was far from being healed. Tabitha tried to kill her once, she would likely do it again if she found out that the job wasn’t finished. Tabitha was an efficient killer, so Barbara couldn’t understand how she was still alive after being such an easy target for she didn’t even know how many days. Still, that was no reason to keep tempting fate.

Tabitha wasn’t even her only concern, or enemy. Now that she no longer had her position as Queen of Gotham to protect her, or rather, now that she lost Tabitha’s protection, there would be far too many people after her head.

She needed to run, hide to lick her wounds as she tried to find a way to regroup and claw her way back to the top.

\---

Tabitha didn’t want to hurt Barbara, no matter what Butch thought. She did everything she could to keep him under control, and even when she agreed with his plan, it was only to buy time so she could find a way to calm things down again. Maybe Butch knew that, maybe that’s why he tried to attack Barbara without her. If he hadn’t, maybe Tabitha could have found a way to fix things.

After Barbara killed Butch, it was too late, she was out of her mind, and Tabitha had to fight her to protect her own life. As much as she loved Barbara, and she did, even then, she couldn’t leave her life in Barbara’s hands when Barbara was in such state. She knew her well enough to recognize that Barbara’s murderous rage was seldom rational and could be directed at anyone. Running could have been the better option, but not possible under the circumstances, so all Tabitha could do was fight.

Still, she wasn’t trying to kill Barbara, not unless it couldn’t be avoided. Which was why she called 911 before running. She wasn’t delusional, she knew it was unlikely that anything could be done to help Barbara at that point, but if there was even a small chance, she couldn’t risk losing it.

If only Barbara could have seen that everything she was doing before was for them, Tabitha would never have betrayed her, but she couldn’t stand working with the man who chopped off her hand over a misunderstanding and then acted as if nothing happened. They could have run Gotham together, Tabitha didn’t care about power, never did, but she would do anything to help Barbara keep hers if what was what she wanted. Who cared if someone else was running the city in secret? Barbara would have the underworld, and they would have each other.

Now it was too late, and pointless to think about what could have been. So she left, the safehouse, the city, just left everything behind and didn’t look back. There was nothing left for her there.

\---

Barbara’s recovery was slow and painful. By the time was back on her feet, Oswald was once again King of Gotham, more powerful than ever. She couldn’t take him alone, nor did she want to, not yet, anyway. Thing were changing in Gotham, and running the gangs was no longer the path to power, as Oswald had demonstrated with his friends. She needed to relearn the rules of the game, and the best way to do that was to start small.

She want back to the Sirens, and Tabitha wasn’t there, but she hadn’t expected to find her. She didn’t hear anything about Tabitha while she was hiding, so Barbara assumed she left the city. It was better like this, she didn’t want them to fight again.

The club was abandoned, but not in a bad shape, which was a small miracle in and of itself, but she wasn’t complaining. After everything that happened, she deserved a lucky break.

She didn’t make a big announcement, simply preparing the club to open one night, with little staff or supplies.

It wasn’t that she was trying to stay hidden, that would have been impossible, but by not being flashy she was sending a message. She wasn’t there to fight, all she wanted was some peace and quiet. Of course, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t kill everyone in her way when she finally decided to act, but this was about appearances, and passing the right image.

For now, she was a spider, standing in wait at the center of the web she casted across the city, ready to attack when she could tell by the vibrations her victims were weak.

\---

Tabitha was far away when she first heard that the Sirens had been reopened. She didn’t think anything of it at the time, it wouldn’t be the first time someone in Gotham decided to cash in on someone else’s idea, especially when there was something morbid surrounding that idea.

Then, the other rumors started to come in. The Queen of Gotham was back, but hadn’t made a bid for the throne. And _that_... _that_ she had to check for herself.

She told Selena she would be out for a few days, but never said where she was going. She didn’t want to take the chance that Selena would want to come with her, because if Barbara really were alive, then anything could happen. Over the months she had grown quite fond of the girl, and she wasn’t willing to risk her life now.

However, this rationalization hid another reason she was leaving Selena behind: she had to do that alone.

\---

Barbara never dared to wonder what would happen when Tabitha found out she was back, not beyond the necessary precautions took to protect her own life. Most of all, she was afraid to even ask herself if Tabitha could forgive her. She could never be ready for this moment. Nothing could have prepared her to face her lover and executor, and learn that she still loved her before anything else.

\---

Tabitha didn’t dare to hope that the rumors were true. She wasn’t prepared for the possibility of facing Barbara, but she went anyway. She needed to, for reasons she couldn’t explain, not even to herself.

\---

They faced each other in silence, shock equally present in their expressions.

No words were said. No words could explain what they felt.

Later, they wouldn’t remember who took the first step, nor which leap of faith was greater, if not to attack or not to presume an attack was coming.

All they would remember was holding onto each other. It was an almost instinctive act. They needed each other, and until that moment they could have denied that, tried their best not to acknowledge it, but not anymore.

Nothing was fixed between them. They had still tried to kill each other, almost successfully. There was still a betrayal hanging between them, and they wouldn’t agree whose betrayal it was.

This was far from a happily ever after, the ending of a love story.

This was only the beginning. A new beginning for the couple that would bring Gotham to its knees once more.

And this time, nothing could stand in their way.


End file.
